Russian Digital Ruble Pilot Expands to 30 Banks and 2 Million Users
February 17, 2026 at 09:38 AM1,503 views
CBDC Milestone
The Bank of Russia has expanded the digital ruble pilot program to include 30 financial institutions and over 2 million participating users, marking the largest phase of testing to date.
Pilot Results
The expanded pilot demonstrates:
- Transaction processing speeds under 2 seconds
- Successful offline payment functionality
- Cross-bank interoperability without settlement delays
- Smart contract capabilities for government subsidies
Adoption Timeline
The CBR plans to make the digital ruble available to all citizens by mid-2027, with mandatory merchant acceptance beginning in 2028.
Experts note that the digital ruble could reduce payment processing costs by 60% compared to traditional card networks.
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